Department for Education

Update on Examinations in 2023

Kit Malthouse: The Department of Education welcomed the successful return of summer exams and other formal assessments in 2022. Alongside Ofqual, we put in place a package of support to recognise disruption faced by the 2022 exam cohort whilst being clear of our intention to return to exams as normal in 2023.In May, the department and Ofqual confirmed that for exams and formal assessments in 2022/2023 there would be usual arrangements for non-exam assessment and there would be full subject content coverage for all subjects.On Thursday 29 September, the department and Ofqual confirmed exams will largely return to well-established, pre-pandemic arrangements in summer 2023. In making these decisions, the department considers the level of disruption experienced by the 2023 cohort over the course of their qualifications has not been as significant as that experienced by those who received qualifications in 2022 as they will have had more time to cover their curriculum, practise assessments, and access education recovery programmes and interventions. There have been no national school closures in the 2023 cohort’s GCSE/A level teaching years, which are designed as two-year courses. The 2023 cohort had less overall absence (including all covid absences) in their Y10 autumn term than the 2022 cohort did. Furthermore, the department believes it is important to return to pre-pandemic arrangements to build confidence in the credibility and validity of qualifications.In that context, the department confirms that advance information will not be provided for any exams taken in summer 2023. However, acknowledging students may still have experienced a level of disruption due to the pandemic, the department has decided that formulae and equation sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined sciences exams should be provided in summer 2023, as was the case for exams in 2022. As most students take at least one of these subjects at GCSE, this will provide broad support for all GCSE students. We have asked Ofqual to put this into place and they have launched a consultation on this.On grading, Ofqual have confirmed the position they set out in September 2021, to return to pre-pandemic grading in 2023.Looking back over the past three years, the department and Ofqual are keen to build resilience in the exam system and learn lessons from the alternative arrangements that have been put in place. Jointly with Ofqual, we have launched a consultation that seeks views on how centres should gather and retain evidence from students so that it can be used both to support students’ revision and exam preparedness and could be used as a basis to determine students' grades in the unlikely event that formal exams and assessments do not go ahead as planned. It invites views on whether the guidance proposed will minimise the burden on centres and students, and if it will support centres in providing the best possible preparation for students for their exams.

Teacher Training Reforms Update

Jonathan Gullis: Today, my Department is informing applicants of the outcomes of the final round of the application process to gain accreditation as a provider of Initial Teacher Training from September 2024. This forms part of the ongoing Initial Teacher Training (ITT) reform announced on 1st December 2021.The key aim of the reforms, which centre around the introduction of a new set of clear Quality Requirements, is to ensure high-quality teacher training is available in all areas of the country. Following the development of the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications, the reforms to ITT are the next step in realising our ambition to create a golden thread of evidence-based training, support and professional development, which will run through every phase of a teacher’s career. We know that the quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Being taught by a high-quality teacher can add almost half a GCSE grade per subject to a given pupil’s results.As part of the provider accreditation process, both existing and prospective ITT providers were invited to apply for accreditation to deliver courses from September 2024, when the new Quality Requirements will come into effect. The process was designed to be proportionate but rigorous, with questions that reflected vital components of the ITT Market Review’s recommendations.179 providers have been awarded accreditation in total across the two rounds and I am pleased to see the high quality of provision that has been accredited.The Department will now work the accredited providers as part of the next stage of the reform process to ensure that all ITT courses are developed in line with the new criteria and are ready for delivery from September 2024. The Department will also work with these providers to ensure that they have strong partnerships in place to provide sufficient training places in the subjects, phases and areas where they are needed.I would like to thank all ITT providers for engaging in the process and for their ongoing support as we implement the ITT market review. We understand that providers who have not received accreditation will be disappointed. My Department will work closely with these providers to support their next steps and look to facilitate partnership with accredited providers for those who want to continue to provide ITT from September 2024.The Department’s priority will be ensuring that the new standards and expectations will continue to be met at all institutions delivering ITT, both accredited and through the formation of partnerships. As the market develops over the next two years, officials will continue to work closely with a range of sector experts to monitor the availability of provision across all regions. We will be encouraging providers who did not achieve accreditation to consider forming a partnership with an accredited provider in the areas where this is needed.This is a significant step in the delivery of our ambitious programme to create a world-class teacher development system and transform the support teachers receive at every stage of their career – all the way from ITT and early career support, to specialisations and school leadership. The number of teachers in England remains high, with over 465,500 (FTE) working in state-funded schools across the country – over 24,000 more than in 2010. I am confident that from 2024 the accredited providers will deliver high-quality, evidence-based, training in a reformed ITT market that prepares trainees to thrive in the classroom, wherever they are in the country.

Ministry of Justice

Update on Transgender Prisoners

Brandon Lewis: On 4 October I announced reforms to our policy for the allocation of transgender prisoners. Under the reforms, transgender prisoners with male genitalia should no longer be held in the general women’s estate. This will not be a blanket rule; exemptions to these new rules will be considered on a case-by-case basis.This will also apply to transgender women who have been convicted of a sex offence.Further detail about these reforms will be announced when we publish our updated transgender prisoners policy framework before the end of the year.

Electronic Monitoring Update

Brandon Lewis: We set out in our Beating Crime Plan how we will improve public protection and increase public confidence in the justice system. We are determined to empower the police and probation to keep us safe; through providing them with the technology and resources they need, we will crack down on the repeat offenders who are blighting our neighbourhoods. Since April 2021 our Acquisitive Crime project has been using GPS electronic location monitoring to track the movements of burglars, robbers and thieves released on licence, and serving a standard determinate sentence of 12 months or more across nineteen Police Force Areas. I have now laid a Statutory Instrument to expand this world-first project to include offenders serving shorter sentences of 90 days or more, this will come into force on 26 October.Electronic monitoring will be a compulsory condition on the offender’s licence for the remainder of their sentence up to a maximum of 12 months, other than in exceptional circumstances where probation assess that an offender’s health or personal situation make the use of a tag inappropriate.Through this measure we aim to deter further offending and reduce crime; expanding the project to offenders serving shorter sentences will increase the number of offenders captured by the legislation by around 2,000 by March 2025.This expansion will be subject to robust evaluation, including of impact on reoffending and cost effectiveness. The evaluation will be conducted by the Ministry of Justice Data and Analysis directorate; the final evaluation conclusions report will be peer reviewed by independent academics before publication. It will allow us to better assess the most effective period for electronic monitoring of acquisitive offenders, helping to identify what is necessary and proportionate use and therefore influencing future decisions on how electronic monitoring can be used to reduce reoffending.The location monitoring data is used to support the work of probation and the police. Using ‘crime mapping’ technology we overlay police acquisitive crime data with tagging data to identify if any tagged offenders were in the vicinity of a given crime, to better equip the police to investigate offences, apprehend or rule out suspects and to support prosecutions. Alongside this, probation practitioners are provided with summaries of an offender’s movements and compliance behaviour and, to further enhance supervision, they can investigate an offender's movements in closer detail using a self-service portal.Throughout this joint endeavour between the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, feedback from policing and probation has been positive, and expansion is supported by them.A copy of this statement has also been laid in the House of Lords by my colleague, The Lord Bellamy.

Prime Minister

Machinery of Government

Elizabeth Truss: I am making this statement to bring to the House’s attention the following Machinery of Government changes.Responsibility for union and devolution policy will move to the Cabinet Office under the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in his role as Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. This will allow the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to lead the UK Government’s engagement with the Devolved Administrations and drive forward cross-Government efforts to deliver tangible improvements for people across the UK, working closely with the Territorial Offices.The Brexit Opportunities Unit will move from the Cabinet Office to sit under the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This will bring together work to tackle EU red tape, seize post-Brexit opportunities and efforts to ensure the regulatory and business environment enables the UK to attract investment and boost growth.Both machinery of government changes will take effect immediately.

Department for Work and Pensions

Bereavement Benefits Update

Claire Coutinho: My honourable Friend, The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (The Baroness Stedman-Scott) has made the following Written Statement.We have today laid the draft Bereavement Benefits (2022) Remedial Order. Copies of the draft Remedial Order and Explanatory Memorandum are available in the Journal Office and the Vote Office (Commons) and the Printed Paper Office (Lords). We have also laid the Government Response to representations made on Proposals for a draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2021, including the eighth report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Session 2021-22 (HC 594, HL 91). We would like to thank the Committee, and other Members, for their observations on the draft proposed Order.

Treasury

Timing of Medium-Term Fiscal Plan

Kwasi Kwarteng: Today I can inform the House that I have asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to bring forward the date of their next forecast to 31 October. Strong growth and sustainable public finances go hand in hand. Alongside the publication of the Economic and Fiscal Outlook, I will set out the government’s Medium Term Fiscal Plan. This will set out further details on the government’s fiscal rules, including ensuring that debt falls as a share of GDP in the medium term. This forecast, in addition to the forecast that will be commissioned in spring, will fulfil the obligation for the OBR to produce at least two forecasts in a financial year, as is required by legislation.

Clarification of the tax treatment of interim infected blood compensation payments and of the Jobs Growth Plus scheme introduced by the Welsh Government

Richard Fuller: Interim infected blood compensation paymentsFollowing Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendation, the Government previously announced that infected individuals and bereaved partners currently registered on the existing UK Infected Blood Support Schemes, and those who register from now to the inception of any future scheme, would receive an interim compensation payment of £100,000[1].The Government is today announcing that it will ensure that no income tax, capital gains tax, National Insurance contributions or inheritance tax are charged on these payments. In addition, these payments will not be included as income for tax credit purposes. The Government will legislate to exempt these payments in due course.In the interim, HM Revenue and Customs will exercise its collection and management discretion and will not collect any tax on these payments once issued.Jobs Growth Plus schemeIn addition, the Government will legislate in Finance Bill 2022/23 to ensure that payments made under the Engagement and Advancement strands of the Jobs Growth Plus scheme by the Welsh Government will be exempt from income tax. This legislation will apply retrospectively from 1 April 2022, when payments from the scheme started.HM Revenue and Customs will exercise its collection and management discretion and will not collect any income tax that may have been due on payments made from 1 April 2022 to the date the legislation takes effect.These measures are being announced outside of the normal fiscal process in order to provide certainty regarding the tax treatment to those making the payments and the recipients. [1] https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-08/16082022_Minister%20for%20the%20Cabinet%20Office%20to%20Sir%20Brian%20Langstaff.pdf